All Under One Roof —at a Discount

El Machetazo

Customer Snapshot:Overview

When analyzing profit and inventory, El Machetazo struggled to reconcile information from isolated systems. To solve the challenge, the company deployed SAP Business Suite on Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE). Managers now have accurate, real-time, consolidated views of performance indicators to make effective decisions that speed up inventory turnover, and improve cash flow.

Customer Snapshot:History

Ahead of Their Time

Founded in 1966, El Machetazo launched a department store that offers consumers everything they need under one roof. Today the company has 11 stores throughout the Republic of Panama that follow the mission of “slicing prices” as much as possible—hence the company name of El Machetazo, which translates to “the machete” in English.

First of its kind.

Customer Snapshot:Business Model

Passing the Savings on to the Customer

El Machetazo provides consumers with everything they need for their homes and daily living—all under one roof. The company sells merchandise from stores located throughout Panama, and constantly focuses on buying inventory at the lowest price possible so the savings can be passed along to customers.

Better decisions.

The Challenge

The Silo Effect

El Machetazo previously relied on multiple, custom, internally-developed database systems created for different business units. This led to information silos that made it challenging for senior management to base decisions on information that took into account the condition of the entire business.

To address this challenge, as well as to accelerate timelines for how quickly inventory could be sold to consumers, El Machetazo needed to consolidate the multiple information silos into a single ERP system. They realized this would provide the ability to make more informed decisions on inventory status, and how to utilize corporate resources to sell products faster. The company also wanted to reduce the IT resources required for building and maintaining the ERP system.

Consolidating resources and making better decisions.

Enter SAP

Building on a Strong Partnership

El Machetazo has relied on SAP solutions for many years, and the two companies have developed a strong partnership. Based on past experiences, El Machetazo decided to partner with SAP again and deploy the SAP Business Suite on ASE solution.

Lightning fast.

The system’s stability ensures 24x7 operability, and the small system footprint reduces storage and CPU requirements—creating a lower TCO.Other key attributes the solution offers include consistent performance and a fast migration speed that minimalizes business disruptions.

Enter SAP:The SAP Experience

Faster than Even Expected

Prior to consolidating the isolated databases into SAP Business Suite on ASE, El Machetazo expected the migration of 280,000 SKUs to take at least four days. But the IT team completed the entire process in less than four hours.

From days to hours.

Better Business

Making Faster, Smarter Decisions

El Machetazo leverages SAP Business Suite on ASE to generate accurate information that enables senior management to run the company more efficiently and speed up cash flow. With all data contained within a single ERP system, managers can now make decisions based on more accurate, real-time information.

Better Business:Benefits

Reallocating Resources to Benefit Consumers

El Machetazo launched the effort to deploy SAP Business Suite on ASE realizing the time had arrived for the company to reduce the number of personnel resources that focus on building and maintaining software. This new approach allows the company to allocate more resources toward the core business—providing products to consumers at the lowest prices possible.

With a solution such as SAP Business Suite on ASE that eliminates information silos, El Machetazo can now access all business information through single views that facilitate faster decision making.

A winning combination.

Better Business:Lessons Learned

Great Database Solution for Medium Sized Companies

Consolidating multiple database systems into a single ERP solution such as SAP Business Suite on ASE allows medium-size companies like El Machetazo to deploy a robust ERP solution at a cost-effective price point for hardware and software, as well as on-going system maintenance.

Better Business:Run Simple

More Effective and More Profitable

The improved decision-making capabilities allow El Machetazo’s decision makers to utilize resources more effectively towards core business objectives, and the company has accelerated cash flow through data analysis that leads to faster inventory turnover. Both of these new capabilities help generate larger profit margins and increase revenues.

Journey Ahead

Holding True Today and Tomorrow

El Machetazo believes that in order to create and sustain competitive advantages over the competition as they continue to grow, their ERP system must continue to perform reliably and allow management to access information easily. SAP Business Suite on ASE provides a high-performance ERP platform that improves operational efficiency and significantly reduces their overall system costs. El Machetazo is confident this not only holds true today, but will also continue into the future.